SWARTHMORE, Pa. – Approximately 40 percent of students at Swarthmore College, including several student-athletes, take advantage of spending a semester or an entire year studying abroad. Swarthmore College women's soccer players Amy DiPierro '15 and Elyse Tierney '15 had the unique opportunity of being abroad in Argentina and Germany, respectively, while World Cup fever was engulfing each country.
 
Yesterday, Amy DiPierro '15 shared her experiences about studying abroad and experiencing the World Cup from Argentina. Today, Elyse Tierney '15 talks about her overall study abroad experience in Germany and the impact the World Cup has had on the country.
 
Below are questions we asked Tierney as well as her answers about her personal experiences in Germany.
 
Q: What is your major and why did you choose to study abroad? Why did you choose to go to Germany, and how long have you been there?
 
Elyse: I major in psychology with minors in computer science and German studies. Germany and the German language have been very important to me for a long time. When my mom was in college, she studied abroad in Germany for a year. She made a good friend who she kept in contact with, and when I was in high school, this woman's daughters lived with my family as exchange students for a semester each. I was always very jealous that their English was amazing and that I couldn't speak any German at all, so I made the plan to study abroad in Germany in college.
 
Part of why I chose Swarthmore was that it really promotes studying abroad among its students, and that was a priority for me. I started taking German as a freshman, and I have been learning German ever since! I have been in Germany since February and my program ends at the end of July. The program did not actually start until March 1, but I chose to do an additional language course during the month of February.
 
Q: What parts of Germany have you been to? Have you been in one city or all around the country?
 
Elyse: I have been to Göttingen, Hannover, Leipzig, Berlin and Hamburg. My study abroad program takes place in Berlin, the language program was in Göttingen, and our family friends live in Hannover and I have visited them a few times.
 
Q: How has the study abroad experience been for you? What have been the most exciting parts of it?
 
Elyse: Studying abroad has been absolutely amazing. Improving my German was my number one priority, and I definitely feel like I have succeeded. Simply being surrounded by people that spoke German all the time has been incredibly helpful. Living with Germans makes it impossible to get away from German, and I also get to live in the Germany culture which is really great. Living in Berlin has been really exciting because there is always something new to discover here.
 
I think the most exciting (and frightening) experiences I have had here was when I was trying to find an apartment. My program sets you up with a host family for a month, and during that time you're supposed to email people, go to roommate castings and basically just find an apartment like every other German that is trying to live in Berlin. I was still very nervous about my German at the time, so going into these castings felt like an amazing accomplishment. I sent out 40 emails, had five meetings in four days, and at the end of it I had an apartment and the feeling that I could take on anything Berlin threw at me. And that was all within my first two weeks of living in Berlin!

Q: What have been some of the biggest adjustments for you in terms of living in a different part of the world?
 
Elyse: Living in Germany was not really that big of an adjustment. The culture is really similar, but people give each other a bit more personal space. The toughest thing I have had to deal with is my own bad cooking. My German roommates have been helpful in that regard, though. A challenge specific to Berlin is that everything is far away from here. It will take me a minimum of 30 minutes to get anywhere interesting. But unlike Swarthmore, I do not need to sit in the library studying every day and have the time to commute for an hour into different parts of Berlin.
 
Another big adjustment was the difficulty of making German friends. A friend once told me that in Germany, you don't "make" friends, you "find" friends, and then you are friends for the rest of your life. This is absolutely true. Germans really care about the difference between friendships and acquaintances, and it can be hard to strike up new friendships.
 
For example, I found a German soccer team to practice with while I was here. We practiced four times a week, every week, but it was not until my third or fourth week with the team that they started referring comments to me in conversations or that I felt like less of an outsider. It can take a long time for Germans to warm up to you, and that definitely took some getting used to. Luckily though, I toughed it out! I met some really cool girls who I was able to hang out with after the season ended, and it was definitely worth the wait.
 
Q: What are some of the most memorable things you have done while abroad?
 
Elyse: One thing I am really glad to have learned from being here in Germany is to take my relaxation time seriously. Germans take their weekends very seriously. When the weather is nice, the parks and lakes are full of people just enjoying the day. One of my favorite days since I have been here is a day when I went swimming on a lake called Schlachtensee and then just sat there eating fruit and hanging out with my friends.
 
Q: You have had the opportunity to study abroad in a country while it has been going through World Cup fever and a successful run at the tournament. What has that been like? How tuned in has the country been to the tournament in general and when Germany has played?
 
Elyse: It has been amazing to be here for the World Cup because it is one of the few times you can see German patriotism. Normally, it is looked down upon to fly a Germany flag or wear a Germany shirt. But since we are supporting our team in the World Cup, it is ok to be covered in German colors. Cars have flags and covers for the trunks, bikes have German seat covers and buses have stickers. It has been crazy, but I love seeing how much Germans love soccer and are proud of their team. That made the final even more crazy, and I could not believe that I was there for it.
 
Q: Germany was ironically placed in the same group as the United States, which included the two countries facing off in a match that would determine advancement into the knockout round. Did you have the opportunity to see the match? If so, were you in a public setting dressed in USA gear and red, white and blue?
 
Elyse: I did see the match! I was in Hamburg on a trip organized by my study abroad program, so I went to an outdoor viewing space with a bunch of other Americans. A guy friend of mine was the only one who wore anything American. The rest of us were blending in and cheering for both teams, and two of the people in our group actually had Germany national team jerseys! It was an awesome experience, especially when the game was over and people took to the streets cheering. For me, it did not matter who won since the United States was most likely going to continue on either way.
 
Q: What was it like after Germany arguably stunned the world by earning a 7-1 victory over Brazil?
 
Elyse: My street had fireworks going off until 2:00 a.m., and I live in a quiet neighborhood with mostly families. The Germans I talked to were incredibly proud. But as I said, there was very little overt support of Germany the next day. I expected everybody to be wearing Germany jerseys, and I only saw one or two people wearing them. Patriotism is just a very uncomfortable thing here, even during the World Cup.
 
Q: Once the United States was eliminated by Belgium, did you start rooting for Germany? Or were you pulling for an underdog like Costa Rica?
 
Elyse: I was rooting for Germany from the start. Ever since I was younger, I have rooted for Germany in the World Cup. They work really hard, they typically show up with a strong team and the United States barely cares about soccer (although this year that was arguably a different story). Germany was always my number one pick, but I did really wish that Mexico had gotten farther. Once they got kicked out, Costa Rica became my favorite from that side of the bracket. I am very happy for Argentina though, especially since that was where Amy DiPierro was studying abroad.
 
Note: To read about Amy's experiences in Argentina, click here.
 
Q: You attended a live viewing of the championship match against Argentina in Berlin. Describe what the scene was like when Germany's Mario Götze scored the goal in the 113th minute.
 
Elyse: Everyone in the crowd was jumping up and down and crying, and they set off some fireworks and colored smoke with lights. It was amazing!
 
Note: The live viewing of the championship match against Argentina in Berlin that Elyse attended had the record amount of people attending their "fan mile" at approximately 60,000 strong. The number was even larger than the fan mile in Brazil.
 
Q: No European team has ever won a World Cup in the Americas until Germany's victory over Argentina on Sunday. What was the reaction in Germany shortly after the win?
 
Elyse: I don't know that a lot of Germans knew or thought about that fact. I think people were just incredibly excited that their country had won a fourth World Cup after being in the final so many times. Someone told me that Germany has been in the World Cup finals more times than any other country, so I am glad they finally pulled through!
 
Q: What will you take away from this experience?
 
Elyse: I have loved studying abroad in Germany. I have been here for six months and I still wish I could stay longer. The things I take away with me include better cooking skills, better German skills, the ability to confidently introduce myself to strangers at any given time, and the understanding that breaks and relaxation are amazing and healthy. I loved getting away from the American "go, go, go" culture, and I really hope to bring back the German sensibility with me. I also learned how to make bratwurst here, so I will share that with everyone I know!
 
Elyse Tierney '15, Amy DiPierro '15 and the Swarthmore women's soccer team will be traveling abroad to Spain in August. Be sure to check back with www.swarthmoreathletics.com next month when the program plans to blog and share photos of its experience in Europe.